Etruscan italy

Vra Klontza-Jaklová
Published only in the electronic form. These study materials are available on the webpage of
ÚAM MU Brno (http://archeo-muzeo.phil.muni.cz/).
These study materials were created under the auspices of Masaryk
University at Department of Archeology and Museology within
the grant project FRMU MUNI / FR / 1298/2016 (ID = 36283).
Etruscan italy
3
Introduction
The excursion to Italy was held from 29th May till 7th June 2017 and was organized by
students of Department of Archaeology and Museology of Masaryk University in Brno. The
main intention was to present the Etruscan landscape in its natural settings to students of
Classical Archaeology and related fields of study. The excursion took place within the grant
project FRMU ID-MUNI / FR / 1298/2016 (ID = 36283).
This excursion completed following Classical Archaeology courses: AEB_74 (Etruscan and
Central Europe) and KLBcA25 (Etruscans in the context of Ancient World - Etruscology),
KLMgrA31 (Excursion) but it was considerably valuable as well for students of History and
Ancient history.
All students had to be active in the period of its organization in order to complete the course
and get the credits. Before the field trip, they had to attend a seminar to get acquainted with
each visited site and the individual essay’s topics have been shared with students. The
selection of topics was based on their own interest.
Students were allowed to work in smaller groups or completely independently. The task was
to write a historical and archaeological overview of each site before the trip and then analyze
a specific artefact, or group of artifacts during the excursion. Individual topics were presented,
commented and further discussed already during the study trip. The final essays are submitted
in this study material volume together with photo documentation taken by students
themselves on the visited archaeological sites and museums.
We would like to thank all of those who took part in the excursion, whether as participant or
as organizer and helped to ensure the smooth course of the study trip. Special thanks belong to
Dr. Dagmar Vachtová. Last but not least, we would like to thank Masaryk University for
their financial support, as well as Faculty of Arts which provided special scholarship for
students.
4
EXCURSION:
2. TARQUINIA: Museo Nazionale Etrusco, necropolis
3. CERVETERI: Museo Nazionale Cerite, necropolis
4. BOLSENA: city sightseeing
5. ORVIETO: Musei Archeologici Civico e Faina, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di
Orvieto
7. PIOMBINO/POPULONIA – Museo Archeologico del territorio di Populonia a Parco
Archeologico di Baratti e Populonia
8. VOLTERRA: Museo Etrusco Guarnacci, acropolis and necropolis
9. FLORENCE
Map 1. Etruscan sites, 2017. Source of the map: https://maps.google.com/
6
TARQUINIA
VOLTERRA
ETRUSCO GUANARCCI’S COLLECTION IN VOLTERRA
Michaela Faltýnková, Andrea Loukotová
ETRUSCAN CANDELABRAS
8
Veronika Florianová
Barbara Nováková
Cerveteri (etr. Ceisra, ph. Kyšry, gr. Chaire, Agylla, lat. Caere) is a town located in the
region of Lazio in Italy. It is situated about 40 km northwest of Rome and placed in not very
extensive landscape shaped by tuff. Two rivers running through the area divide it to three
parts. The total area is about 150 ha. There are necropolises such as Banditaccia, Monte
Abatone and Sorbo in the nearby hills of the central plateau. The plateau was originally
considered as the main settlement of the area. Close to the shore of the Tyrrhenian Sea, there
were important ports called Pyrgi (Santa Severa), Alsium (Palo) and Punicum (Santa
Marinella).
According to the mythical tradition, the city was founded by Pelasgians during the
beginning of the Iron Age (9th century BC) and it quickly became one of the most important
Etruscan cities. In the first half of 8th century BC the occupants of Caere were in contact with
Phoenicians and Greeks, who were interested in local mines full of copper, tin, iron, lead and
alum mined in nearby mountains the Monti della Tolfa. The city reached its peak in the
beginning of the 7th century BC (the Orientalizing Period) when the rule was based on
ancestry. The rulers (principles) were in the forefront of the gentes. The gentes social
organization can be compared with the model of Greek aristocracy. The most significant
gentes were known for their luxury and wealth which positively influenced the empowerment
of the city as well as the sea trade, which was the key instrument for export of bronze and
pottery products. On the other hand, there were amazing imported goods in Caere – metal
tableware and products from ivory, which were imported from the Near East, as well as Greek
painted ceramic, bronze artefacts, wine amphorae and so on. During the 6th century BC (in
the Archaic Period) the population of the city was 25 000 – 30 000 and it was still keeping a
prestigious statute amongst the most important Mediterranean trade centers.
During the Archaic Period, there were Greek craftsmen from Asia Minor present at
Caere. As a consequence, we can perceive the progressing influence of the Ionic style in every
aspect of art in many Etruscan cities. Even though the trade was on top during this period,
there was a political conflict between the citizens of Cerveteri and the Phocaean Greeks. The
9
Phocaeans, after they were defeated by the Persians, founded a trading post on the isle of
Corsica and, according to Herodotos, they were participating in the battle of the Sardinian Sea
in the year 540 BC. In this battle, there were Etruscans and Phoenicians on one side and
Greeks on the other. The Etruscans, forming league with the Phoenicians, won the conflict
and they forced Greeks out of Corsica. In between the two nations, they split the islands of
Corsica and Sardinia. Captured Greek soldiers were stoned in Cerveteri or sold into slavery in
Carthago. Not long after the battle, plague started to spread in Etruria which lead the citizens
of Cerveteri to build a thesauron for the god Apollo in Delphi, which means the city was the
only Etruscan one with a thesauron in Delphi. Because of their massive contact with Greeks,
the culture of the city of Cerveteri was strongly hellenized in the Archaic Period. Attic pottery
artefacts found in the Etruscan tombs – for example the works of Euphronios – clearly
illustrate the influence.
City
In case of Caere, the information we know about the urban settlement are not very
distinct. The reason is the aim of the excavation at the beginning which was focused, quite
understandably, on the necropolis. The settlement itself was unfortunately taken into
consideration quite recently. Fortunately, we can find a lot of urban information just by
looking at the necropolis itself – it was partly constructed to resemble the city nearby. The
necropolis copies the street pattern of the 6th century BC Caere.
The certain fact is that the city originated as many others in the same area, by
synoikism, which in this case basically means that one bigger Villanovan settlement (around
1000 inhabitants) got united with several smaller, nearby settlements. This process happened
during the 8th century BC. In the time of its biggest glory, the city of Caere covered circa 15x
bigger area than the city today and in the 6th century BC it counted between 25 000 – 30 000
inhabitants.
The oldest settlement of the plateau, on which one of the most important Etruscan
cities was later built, was situated in the part called Vignali (there were some urns dated to the
9th century BC found). Unfortunately, there is no fixed settlement left from the Iron Age.
The oldest existing construction material dated to the 7th century BC on the site is located in
the area called Madonella. A settlement with cisterns, civil buildings and construction
material recorded in the main urban area of Caere – the part is called Campetti – is dated the
same. By the end of the 7th century, the whole plateau is occupied, even the part with the
necropolis of Banaditacia and Monte Abatone.
10
Another prominent area is Vigna Parrochiale which was primarily a necropolis
between the 9th and 8th centuries BC. The necropolis was covered by a palace, basements,
pounds and warehouses during the 6th century. There was also an archaic temple dedicated to
Hera in this complex. The palace was destroyed in 490 BC and an Etruscan style temple with
an ellipsoid building used probably for gatherings and games was erected in its place. This
area was also used for tuff quarrying – the tuff was used for the sanctuary Manganello
(around there almost all the buildings are made from quadratical tuff blocks).
Another sacred area was located in the part called Sant´Antonio which is in the west
part of the plateau, which marks the main build-up area of the city. There were Etruscan
temples dedicated to Menerva, Rath (connected to Apollo) a Turms (Hermes).
In the 5th century BC a lot of reconstruction takes place and new sacred area is created
on Vigna Marini-Vitalini, a place which before housed archaic temples of the goddess of Eos
and Kefalos (built between 540 – 520 BC). Later on, a Roman theatre, from which a
collection of statues and so called Claudius´s throne (fragment of a base-relief depicting three
Etruscan cities) was built in these parts.
The city was not fortified during the Archaic Period since its location between two
rivers with steep slopes ensured it was almost not possible to conquer. The first fortification
was erected during the 4th century BC and it is only partial - it does not enclose the whole
settlement. Eight gates were probably in use during that time.
Bibliography:
BANTI, L. 1973: Etruscan Cities and Their Culture. University of California.
BOUZEK, J. 2003: Etruskové jiní ne všechny ostatní národy. Univerzita Karlova v Praze. Praha.
DENNIS, G. 1878: The cities and cementeries of Etruria. London.
DOMENICO, R. P. 2002: The Regions of Italy: A Reference Guide to History and Culture.
Greenwood Press, London.
Civilizations 24). Lanham.
Cerveteri Necropolis [online]. Museum & Necropolis of Tarquinia and Cerveteri: 2013 [Cit.
22.8.2017]. Avalaible from: http://www.tarquinia-cerveteri.it/en/museum-and-necropolis-of-
Petra Kijovská
Alena Pukanczová
Romilda Tegeriová
Etruscan civilization got to the highlight of her potential very fast both in coastal areas
and Italian inland. Etruscans founded many cities as early as in eighth century BC. They
owned their significant entrance into the historical scene not only to favorable natural
conditions but also to mineral deposits, such as iron and copper which are rich in the area of
Etruria. Significant deposits on the island of Elba furnished enough minerals in long-term for
development of metals, at first copper, later iron, with the latter being more represented in
later periods. This fact in particular enabled progression of local iron forging. Production of
high-quality iron lasted the following century. There is a mention in Aeneis that 300 warriors
from Elba and 600 from nearby Populonia were equipped with island made weapons during
the siege of Troy. Thanks to its mineworking fame the island became „the island of thousand
forges“. This state of things was untenable due to significant destruction of vegetation caused
by the requirement of lignite, which is irreplaceable production material for processing of iron
ore. It became a necessity than to make some adjustments and the ore began to be transported
by ships into coastal areas of Tuscany through the Piombino channel which is about 10 km
wide. It was on this coast that new iron forges were established alongside new cities.
One of the cíties founded by Etruscan was Puplana or Fuflana. The Romans called the
city Populonia. The name of the city is known from its coins. Similarly, like other cities, even
this one was originally named after the god Fufluns. The name of Populonia known to us
could be a result of the wrong translation, as the name was written in the hellenistic period
with Etruscan F, which was not familiar among Romans who changed its pronunciation from
Fuflana to Puplana or later even to Populonia. According to other sources, the name is derived
from the work of Plinius, where he mentions the statue of Zeus carved into vinewood, which
can indicate pre-metallurgic craft of this region.
Proofs of the eldest influence of Etruscans in this area come from necropolis and
contain also material of Villanova culture, which started in this region around the year 900
BC and is typical for Iron Age. The basic milestone of Etruscan urbanization in this region is
the year 900 when the cities are being established – with only a few exceptions, which have
development observed already in proto-Villanovan culture. The burial site of San Cerbone
12
was located on the southern coast of Baratti Bay and the burial ground of Piano e Poggio della
Granate is spread out north from the bay towards the up-country. The only explanation for
vast burial grounds is a dense settlement of the area, which could be explained only by the
existence of the city Fufluna/Populonia. We can assume that indigenous population was
Proto-Etruscan because of the archaeological discovery of the Proto-Etruscan burial site in
Villa del Barona on a different hill named Poggio del Molino north from the town Baratti.
Populonia is located on a hump directly on the seashore of Baratti Bay in Tuscany.
The city is spread out on a small peninsula, which forms a natural boundary between Ligur
and Tyrrhenian seas at the same time. The city was founded at the end of 7th century BC but
reached its peak potential in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. The wealth of the city was based
upon advanced iron forging.
The city was divided into two parts. One of them was settled uphill, the other directly
on the seashore. In the upper part of the city was located the acropolis which was fenced by
mighty walls. Acropolis occupied two hills at the top of the island: Poggio del Castillo and
Poggio del Telegrafo, also called Poggio del Molino (it is not the only hill of such name in
this area). In the lower part of the city was situated the artisan district, forges and the port,
which was a key not only for transportation of iron ore but principally for export out of the
commercial center. Local forges did not process only iron or copper ore but magnetite and
hematite ores mined and imported from Elba as well. Local forges were also crucial in
processing ores mined in Tuscany mountains.
The settlement and crafting lasted to the AD period when the city was abandoned. The
destruction was preceded by hundered years of decline, which was completed by the ruin of
Sulla´s army during the civil war in the year 80 BC. After the attack, the city was left
completely abandoned. Along with the city also ceased the mining activities on the island of
Elba. However, the production of iron did not end - it resisted in surrounding villas for
subsequent centuries, though henceforward only to satisfy local needs, the export was
terminated. Piles of accumulated metal debris covering the vicinity of Populonia were used
after 1250 when were probably melted by groups of craftsmen and reused. Even the ruins of
the acropolis were after this date rebuilt into a castle.
Bibliography:
BANTI, L. 1973: Etruscan Cities and Their Culture. University of California.
BOUZEK, J. 2003: Etruskové jiní ne všechny ostatní národy. Univerzita Karlova v Praze. Praha.
DENNIS, G. 1878: The cities and cementeries of Etruria. London.
13
DOMENICO, R. P. 2002: The Regions of Italy: A Reference Guide to History and Culture.
Greenwood Press, London.
Civilizations 24). Lanham.
Miriam Molnárová
Michal Smíšek
Tarquinia, one of the most famous Etruscan city is located in today region of Lazio,
near the west coast of Italy, not so far from Rome. At the peak of its historical prosperity
Tarquinia belonged to the richest cities and metropolitan centers. The city is mostly famous
thanks to its large necropolis, which incorporate richly decorated and materially equipped
tombs of Etruscan people and aristocracy.
Historical centre of Tarquinia is situated around 6,5 km from coast of Tyrheneian sea.
First excavation took place during 30´s of 20 century. Thanks to the fact, that the medieval
and today city was built a few kilometers away from the ancient Tarquinia, the Etruscan city
could be simply excavated. Tarqinia was built, in same way as other toscanian cities, on
naturally protected hill. By the progressive urbanization of smaller settlements, which took
place during Iron age, the city spread downwards do the valley and thanks to its growth the
city built its own harbor at the place where the Marta river meets the sea.
Tyrhennos, son of the Lydian king, was the legendary founder of the city, whom after
the Trojan war left his homeland because of famine and have to found new land for him and
his companions. After landing in Tuscany he founded twelve Etruscan cities and one of them
was Tarquinia. Name Tarquinia, originally Tarchuna, was named after Tyrhenos son (or
brother) Tarchun, which was co-founder of the city and after its foundation he became the
first king of the city.
Another mysterious figure in history of Tarquinia is Tages. He was thought to be a son
of Genius and grandson of Jupiter and led the citizens to faith and worshiping of Gods. He
was able to see and interpret divine signs by watching the entrails and from flying of birds.
So, is there a possibility, that the mentioned Tages was first known augur 1 and haruspex
2 ?
These prophecies was written and they gave a birth to one of the most famous etruscan
codex’s, which was statement of rules, history and mythology - Disciplina Etrusca.
Archeological evidence of persistent occupation is dated up to 10 th
century BCE. From
this period are known remains of oval shaped huts and storage buildings, from the north part
of the city named Area Sacra. They was built from the local stone called macco and space
between the larger blocs was filled with smaller pebbles and reinforced by grayish clay.
1 Auspici – form of the divination from the flight of the birds
2 Haruspici – forma of the diviation from the birds entrails
15
Under the floor of some buildings was found deposits of impasto pottery – amphoras, jugs,
cups and bowls, which prove the presence of proto-villanovian people.
The 9 th
century BCE is characterized by transition to Villanova period. In this period
painted pottery start to be used and number of archaeological findings rapidly grow. One of
the interesting findings is a grave of child from the end of the 9 th
century, which was
discovered at Area Sacra. Child was buried on a thin layer of soil, which contained fragments
of proto-villanova a villanova pottery from this period. There were also found remains of the
copper pin and fragments of deer antlers. Results of paleo-anthropological research showed
that the child was 8 years old boy. This boy suffered from many diseases like albinism a
epilepsy. Dr. Jovino theory is that the boy epilepsy was understood as prodigium and his
unusual burial was symbolically connected to the legend about Tages.
Cultural change and population growth is visible through archaeological findings as
well as changes in pottery style and decoration in 8 th
century. Social differentiation can be
also recognized from the ground plans of the settlement. For example at this time the
craftsmen district appeared. It can be suppose that the changes started with beginning of the
trade, with Greeks from Magna Graecia. Trading goods were especially Greek pottery and
Etruscan metallurgical articles in which Etruscan excelled. The most excellent Etruscan
products were made during the 7 th
century. This period is also known as orientalizing period.
Large amounts of findings of buchero pottery show us that the trade with other…